Triskaian Military
Triskaia has not spent much of its history engaging in armed conflict. Territorial expansions have typically been done through influence, rather than force. This means that the Covenant's standing army is not substantial. Yet the early part of the country's history is mired and blood, and citizens know that they may still be called upon to defend their faith. As such, every member of the Covenant is schooled in combat in at least a rudimentary fashion. When militaristic clashes have occurred in Triskaia's past, armies have been raised very quickly. The fanatical devotion people hold for their faith makes them more than willing to take up arms in an instant. Overview The standing army consists of roughly 10,000 landrakine warriors, under the captaincy of 100 or so Valkyrhae. This army spends their time drilling and patrolling the perimeter, maintaining peace. Then there are 4,000 cavalry reservists who are called upon for six weeks of every year to train. Update: After the war against Parsica concluded in 50 MTC, the new War Chief Bellatyra increased the standing army to 30,000, half Landrakine and half Human. During the Civil War period when the Draca had control of the country, the standing army's numbers reached as high as 250,000, but the resulting fighting force was miserable, exhausted, and malnourished, from lack of adequate shelter, weaponry, and food supplies. It is said that in a time of crisis, up to 100,000 landrakine could be mobilized as a fighting force (pulled from their typical jobs as servants, personal guards, and labourers). A further 200,000 able-bodied men and women could be raised from the human population and whipped into an army, fuelled by their faith. But there are factors preventing such an army from actually existing. The main issue is equipment. The size of the Triskaian army, and indeed the whole country, is based upon their resources of Titan-bone. Titan-bone weapons form the backbone of the Triskaian army. These are cultivated during the tri-centennial Titanfall and shaped by Witch-Priest magic. There are the powerful Titan-bone swords wielded by Valkyrhae and ornaments worn by Gastors, then there are the less powerful but still important spears, pikes, daggers, and axes. While the bulk of the army is furnished with iron and bronze weaponry, they insist on maintaining a strict ratio of Titan-bone to conventional arms. This stems from a belief that Titan-bone weaponry creates an aura that empowers those around it, as long as the wielder maintains a focused connection with the Coven. Thus, the entire army is limited by a lack of Titan-bone support. Largely due to the nature of the way it's formed, the Triskaian army lacks order, especially to an outside viewer. There is little in the way of formalized ranks. The entire military is overseen by one Witch-Priest appointed as War Chief. Gauntlet-Priests are called to her side to serve as tacticians. On the field, authority is held by the Valkyrhae and Gastors, but there is no formal hierarchy within those groups. They are expected to cooperate together, guided by their magical attunement. They organize the ranks of their mortal soldiers. Most of this attention is devoted to the Landrakine, who possess a lower level of intelligence and are kept in line mainly by their fear of witch magic. Those soldiers who wield Titan-bone are placed in an elevated position in the ranks, but they must be distributed evenly, to ensure that their auras extend to everyone. Ranks The War Chief is the Witch-Priest who acts as general for the entire army. She serves primarily as tactician, but there have been occasions when a War Chief has stepped onto the battlefield herself. Famous War Chiefs of the Covenant include Bellavinia, who was the first to have success employing Landrakine brawlers on the field, and led her people to victory against the Order of Erstwhile. Bellawrenna was War Chief during the war against Parsica, which the heathens called the Blood Crusade. She took to the field herself, challenging and killing the Parsican magician Yeranos Gevinae, dying herself in the process. Bellatyra succeeded Bellawrenna, and brought a new ferocity and determination to her position that greatly changed Triskaian military might and structure over the next 50 years. Valkyrhae are both the captains and front-line assault for the Triskaian army. Their Titan-bone swords imbue them with stunning strength and dexterity. A single Valkyrha has been known to cut down a hundred men on her own. They are the fury of the Covenant, who have struck terror into aggressors for centuries. But still, they are not invincible, and being totally unarmored does make them vulnerable in large scale battles, particularly to ranged attacks. The Gastors, on the other hand, provide support from further back. Their magic is the most overt of anyone save the Witch-Priests. They can create temporary defensive barriers, hurl objects through the air, move water and shake land, and at rare times conjure energy into a concentrated strike. This is substantially draining to their power, though. It is much easier to draw upon already occurring nature for their weapons. That is why Triskaians will always want to fight in thunderstorms, because Gastors can draw upon the elements in the weather to unleash their attacks. Landrakine are small, but tough. They have very powerful limbs that can rip a man's head from his shoulders. They are ape-like at a glance, but they also have hard scales on their backs which protect against attack. They are incredibly fierce, but difficult to keep ordered and disciplined in the heat of battle. They are divided into two main types: spearers and brawlers. Those on the spear are the primary assault line, forming a spear wall to charge the enemy. Some landrakine are even allowed Titan-bone spears, but these are exclusively troops from the standing army who have been disciplined from birth to be allowed such an honour. The other main component of the Landrakine contingent are the brawlers. These are always female, who are larger and more fierce than the males. They are given no weapons, but armoured gauntlets on their hands and feet, and they devastate the enemy with attack from their powerful arms and legs. These are used as shock and guerrilla troops. Either they steal into the enemy's ranks and launch a surprise attack, or they are frenzied by magic and unleashed to destroy everything they come into contact with. The human fighting force is predominantly male, but Titan-bone wielders are disproportionately female, probably because of their closer ties to the Coven. These are the pike and axe troops. Pike walls are used for a frontal assault, while axes come from the sides or rear. But the human troops are not disciplined the same was as the Landrakine are, and to an extent are allowed to let their faith guide their tactics on the field. As long as they maintain a distribution of Titan-bone weapons, their battle formation can take any number of shapes. They usually move much more fluidly than in conventional tactics, never quite clashing with the enemy head on, swirling around in a disorienting way, striking quickly and surgically. Since Triskaian warriors fight naked, or nearly so, they rely heavily on dexterity and kiting tactics to injure the enemy. Update: Following the war against Parsica when the Triskaians' lack of ranged capability showed itself to be a serious handicap, Bellatyra created a contingent of 6,000 archers. The best of these archers were afforded a limited number of Titan-bone arrowheads, which could pierce any armour. The cavalry is somewhat of a different beast. The most notable thing is that they don't actually ride horses. Their mounts are the hagerwolves. These are large, wolfish creatures with longer legs than their canus lupus counterparts. Their fur is moonlight grey, but they are usually painted swirling colours, just like their riders. Because of the nature of the beasts, they do not attack in solid formations as is the case with horses. Instead they are separated into packs of 2-3 dozen, each one led by a damwolf. These packs separate and encircle the enemy. Cavalry riders are armed with lances, swords, throwing axes, or bolas, but the hagerwolves do a substantial amount of damage with tooth and claw on their own. Update: Following the war with Parsica, Bellatyra doubled the size of the hagerwolf cavalry, and appointed a number of Valkyrhae to work as dam-breakers, to force the hagerwolves out of their traditional packs and into a solid militaristic formation like with equine cavalry. The process was not easy, but the result made the cavalry much more effective.